NEWS

Hawaii men make fashion statement

Indian Wells, Calif. – It is all about the shirt at the 2010 USTA League 3.0 Senior National Championships.

When the Hawaii USTA 3.0 men’s senior league team won its sectionals, the players wanted to have a team shirt when they played in the Nationals at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

They asked Lei Amoroso of Kaneohe, Hawaii, the wife of team member Vincent, to help the team find some suitable shirts to wear.

When the Amorosos went to Portland to visit family, they stopped at a Nike outlet store and found bright green, neon-colored shirts.

"It was right there and it just stood out," Lei said. "I said, ‘Oh my God, we’ve got to get these.’"

At first her husband had reservations about the shirts because he thought they were too bright. Lei said that was the purpose of the shirts. "I really wanted them to stand out and look good on the courts," she said.

When Amoroso and her husband returned to Hawaii, the team reacted when it saw the brightly-colored shirts.

"They were shocked. There was a little hesitation on their part, because it was too bright," Lei said. "But I said, ‘No, you guys are going to look really good out there. You’ll stand out.’"

According to Lei, after the team tried on the new shirts and got the feel for them, the players told her they felt okay.

"At first they were kind of giving me faces and kind of holding off on it, but after we got here (Indian Wells), they said okay," Lei said.

With their ultra-bright, green-colored shirts, the Hawaii men’s team will be hard to miss.